THE TESTING OF MILK.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 177, 19 August 1909, Page 4

THE TESTING OF MILK.

AN IMPORTANT PROPOSITION. ALLEGED "FAKING" OF TESTS. It urn' a very serious matter, aud one of the very greatest importance to dairy farmers which was broached the, other day by Mr. (Joodlaml, chairman of directors of the Nornianby Dairy Company. The gist of his statement was th.it in some dairy companies the suppliers received what was really a fictitious price for their liutter-fat. He alleged that in certain cases managers' kepi down tlic test, *0 that the suppliers were paid for less !>utter-fat than they actually supplied. By this means the company was enabled to .pay a greater price for its raw material.

Should this be allowedt is it honest? If it ia not honest, is it justifiable even in commercial competition'/ Few people like to be told they are not honest. Few admit they are dishonest. But those directors who instruct the managers to '• read down" the test can hardly lay claim to a spotless 'honesty; neither, for that matter, can the managers who lend themselves to the deception. The suggested reme.lv i« independent testing of the milk. Managers object to anything of the kind. The honest manager opposes the idea because it looks like an aspersion upon his character. The other class of dairy factory managers will light the proposal to the death. And why'/ Becaiuse it is' unlikely that the independent testing will allow them to use the same wasteful methods or allow them to gull the unfortunate shareholders and suppliers «i» has been alleged with respect to testing m the past. Mr. Gooilland's indictment may be taken as' the word of a man who knows what he is talking about, so there can be little doubt of . the existence of malpractice in the past. The "cute" manager, tesLing his own milk supply, his own overrun, his own skim-milk, and so on, can "work a point," just aa could the secretary oi the company if he were allowed to audit his own accounts*. The directors of the companies do not choose their own auditors. The shareholders do that, and the said would raise their eyebrows a bit if a. director were to suggest taking on the job. They want a check on the directors;' they don't bother about the managers, because, for the most part, they have an idea that if the shareholders "cut up rough" the managers would loave their posts'. After all, who is the master, the payer or ti.e payee'/ The allegation made is that the tests are read down one point. That is, milk testing, say, 3.8 is purchased on a 3.7 ■ sstj 4 per cent, milk is taken in and, paid for as though it contained only 3.9 | per cent, of butter-fat, and &o on. Work this out, and it will be found that the 1 loss to the supplier is somewhere botween 2 ;ind 3 per cent. In a <CIOO cheque the supplier loses £2, £3, or £4, or, to bring it closer home, ths supplier who draws A'oO on the faked te&'t is entitled to- £yl odd, £52, or thereabouts. Any fanner can reckon up what he would have gained had his test been one point higher, or lost k had it been a point lower. What is the remedy? The suggestion is that the testing of suppliers' milk samples should be done independently of ihe factory staff. We are given to understand that a fully qualified chemist is in communication with some of the leading dairy companies with a view of establishing a central testing station for Taranaki, where he estimates that the whole of the milk samples of the district could be tested at a minimum of cost—estimated at one quarter per ceutuiu of the milk, cheque—or three-fifths of a penny in the pound. Any supplier of a dairy factory who wants to know what the scheme will cost him, exclusive of freight charges, of course, can quickly figure it out for himself. Apart from the question of cost, the proposal has much to recommend it, and it is hoped that ere the present series of sha:eholders' meetings comes to an end the matter will be brought before those interested for discussion.

The gentleman- above-mentioned is prepared also to test daily the manufactured product of the factories, the by-products (skim-milk, whey, the overrun), and water-supply. He is of opinion that the testing of cows might with advantage be incorporated in the arrangement, together with the analysis of soils, and to 0:1. in support of the proposal to analyse the butter daily, for moisture and so on, it is argued that the. British buyer would place some weight upon the certificate of an independent analytical chemist, and would bo prepared to deal upon that baa's. But he will not be prepared to pay, <iS he has lmd to do sometimes, for exces-

sive water contents. Managers would doubtless eagerly avail themselves of the services of an analytical chemist in the district, in the absence of any proper experimental station conducted in their interests. Milk-testing and herd-testing stations have worked most successfully amongst American and Danish dairymen, and sooner or later the system will oh tain here. The matter is one that we should be pleased to see discussed, and these columns are open for the ventilation of opinions of those interested.